Game of the day: Wisconsin at Florida

Defense is the focal point as Florida hosts Wisconsin on Wednesday. The 20th-ranked Badgers, which posted an 87-47 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in Sunday's opener, led Division I in scoring defense last season. Meanwhile, the Gators allowed just nine first-half points -- setting a shot-clock era team record for fewest points allowed in a half -- during Sunday's 84-35 win against Alabama State.

Both teams have gone to backup plans at point guard. Florida coach Billy Donovan suspended his starter, Scottie Wilbekin, last week and said Tuesday he's highly unlikely to play against the Badgers. Wisconsin's earmarked starter Josh Gasser tore his ACL in preseason practice.

TV: ESPN2, 7 p.m.

ABOUT WISCONSIN (1-0): The Badgers are facing a top-10 opponent on the road in November for the second straight season. forward Mike Bruesewitz was expected to miss the first month of the season after lacerating his leg in a freak mishap in practice. Instead, Bruesewitz suited up and tallied 10 points in 13 minutes of floor time against Southeastern Louisiana. Having Bruesewitz available will help against Florida's talented front line. ABOUT FLORIDA (1-0): Donovan challenged his starters prior to the Alabama State game, promising to bench the entire quintet quickly if he didn't like their play. The Gators responded by taking an 8-0 lead and 8 percent shooting in the first half. Kenny Boynton, who leads all active SEC players in career scoring, is playing the point in Wilbekin's absence. Boynton had 22 points and five assists Sunday, surpassing Neal Walk to become the seventh all-time scorer at Florida.

TRENDS:

* Badgers are 5-0 ATS in their last five vs. Southeastern.* Gators are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six non-conference games.* Under is 7-1 in Badgers last eight vs. Southeastern.* Over is 9-3 in Gators last 12 vs. Big Ten.

TIP-INS:

1. Last season marked the second time in the past five years Wisconsin led Division I in scoring defense. The Badgers have ranked in the top 10 in fewest points allowed for six straight years.

2. The Badgers started redshirt freshman George Marshall at PG against Southeastern Louisiana. Marshall became the first freshman to start a Wisconsin season opener since Devin Harris in 2001.

3. Florida junior F Casey Prather will miss the Wisconsin game. Prather is still recovering after suffering two concussions in a nine-day span.

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1* Cleveland (1:00 ET): The chances for the Browns to avoid the infamy of 0-16 are rapidly dwindling. They are just four games left, but realistically there's probably only two shots where they have a legit chance to win, Dec 24th vs. San Diego and here. This week they are coming off a bye and hosting Cincinnati. I'll recommend to take the points.

It's not as if the Browns haven't been competitive. In fact, they actually outgained the Giants two weeks ago in a 27-13 loss. That game really swung on a defensive score by the G-Men. Despite what the final scores might indicate, they've been competitive in four of the last five games. That doesn't even include close losses to Baltimore, Miami and Tennessee earlier in the year. Robert Griffin III, out since Week 1, is expected to be back this week as the starting QB. Coming off a bye and still motivated to avoid NFL history ('08 Lions only 0-16 team in history), the Browns are a solid value this week. Consider that the "lookahead" line for this game was only +3.5.

The Bengals turned in one of their best performances of the year last week, routing Philadelphia 32-14. But it's "too little, too late" here as a 4-7-1 SU record is probably too big of a hole to climb out of. Even if they were to win out, I'm not sure the Bengals would get into the playoffs. The offense is without WR AJ Green and unlike LW, this is a road game. So far this year, the Bengals are 1-5 SU and 0-6 ATS away from home. After being darlings at the betting window LY, Cincy is just 3-8-1 ATS overall in 2016. With Browns HC Hue Jackson being the Bengals former OC, might there be a little sympathy on the sidelines? Not sure, but Cleveland is also due to erase an 0-4 SU/ATS slide in this AFC North rivalry. 1* Cleveland

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